Fall 2024

• Catherine Bayly
• Gregory Deinert
• Katherine Joshi
• Alan Montroso
• Susan Pramschufer
• Sydney Sharpstene
• Janet Shim
• Sonney Wolfe
• Aubrey Zinn

Dear Reader –

riverrun, past Eve and Adam’s, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Interpolations, which continues to showcase some of the best writing our wonderful students have to offer. This year’s edition represents, primarily, work composed during the 2023-2024 academic year – a year in which we continued to wrestle with the implications of generative AIs and large language models, and how those new technologies affect how we and our students understand the writing process. While we continue to reckon with these challenges moving forward, this issue of Interpolations continues to showcase the very best of our students’ writing, and will, I hope, be a source of inspiration for you, both in the classroom and outside of it.

This issue of Interpolations sees the publication of six outstanding pieces from our English 101 students, which cover a wide array of topics, interests, and genres. In this issue, you will find Lily Inzerrillo’s succinct and effective summary of Jedidah Isler’s TED Talk “The Untapped Genius that Could Change Science for the Better.” Kate Quintana provides a remarkably effective rhetorical analysis of Michael Coren’s Washington Post piece entitled “Why You Should Tell Your Children about Vanishing Fireflies,” identifying a key strategy of Coren’s argument and illustrating its effectiveness well. We also have a fascinating digital literature review from Braden Nowicki, looking at a very local concern: urban renewal and minority displacement right here at home in College Park. New to Interpolations this year is one of our newer assignments, the Research Mini-Projects, here represented by Isaac Reiter’s initial forays into his research about the changing uses of modern technology in the classroom. It’s our hope that both the RMP (A) and RMP (B) from Isaac will help students to visualize their own research and how the sources they find are speaking with one another. Next, we have Gabriel Santiago’s Inquiry Essay, which looks at cultural appropriation in the fashion industry, offering another way to think about a topic that continues to be an important cultural touchstone. Finally, we have Jake Liu’s position paper, arguing effectively for mandatory ethics settings in autonomous vehicles.

In closing, I want to thank, as ever, managing editor Scott Eklund, without whom Interpolations would not be possible. His hard work and dedication to this enterprise is awe-inspiring every year. Additionally, my thanks go out to the always-exceptional editorial board, who worked with our students to prepare these pieces for publication: Catherine Bayly, Gregory Deinert, Katherine Joshi, Alan Montroso, Susan Pramschufer, Sydney Sharpstene, Janet Shim, Sonney Wolfe, and Aubrey Zinn. The repeat board members and new board members alike have guided these pieces through extensive revision, and their helpful insights are always invaluable.

-joshua